1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of fiber optics and, more particularly, to an optical fiber splice enclosure used in the
2. Background of the Invention
Optical fiber systems are becoming widely used to transmit large volumes of data through fiber optic cables over relatively long distances. Fiber optic cables are often suspended between poles, towers, or other above-ground structures. Some fiber optic cables do not have sufficient strength to support their own weight between the poles. In this case, a support strand may be suspended between the poles and along the cable. Alternatively, some fiber optic cables enclose a cable wire messenger wire in an outer sheath of the cable to provide support and increased tensile strength.
Closures are used to protect connections between spliced optical fibers. A splice is generally required for connecting ends of cable segments. For example, a splice may be needed if a distance between connection points is greater than the length of a roll of fiber optic cable. A splice may also be needed to form a branch or drop line that extends from a main service cable.
Aerial closures are generally employed to enclose suspended cables and to provide drop lines from the main service to individual subscribers and businesses. Closures have also been provided with splice trays to facilitate the splicing between optical fibers. Once the required splices are made, the outer housing of the closure is secured around the splice trays to protect the splices from contamination, water and other environmental factors.
In aerial fiber optic cable systems, that utilize Loose Tube fiber optic cable, All-Dielectric Self-Supporting (ADSS) fiber optic cable or Integrated Messenger (IM) fiber optic cable, there is not an effective way to provide a distributive customer access without having extensive fiber splicing cost. In traditional fiber optic cable systems, the wire cable messenger provides a support mechanism to hang and support the traditional fiber optic splice closure. In ADSS an IM type cables, however, there is no external supporting messenger, and in various networks, there is a need to quickly access the fibers without having to remove cable from storage devices to create enough slack to splice the optical fibers. A closure is needed that optimizes “slack loop” access to Loose tube fiber, ADSS and IM cables, for example, without having to relocate cable and which has special provisions for cable routing, buffer unit routing and fiber organization.